Trust issues

The news that the management training company Coalescence Consulting has received payments of £39,570 this financial year may raise a few eyebrows. While Mark Davies, Chief Executive of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, has stated that, “On joining Imperial I rightly declared an interest in the company and resigned as a director of Coalescence to avoid any issues of a conflict of interest. I have had nothing to do with the commissioning of any work historic or ongoing,” he remains a Senior Consultant and Executive Coach for the company, with his wife in the position of Managing Director.

Not only is the issue of conflicts of interest at best not entirely clear, but in the current economic climate and continuing financial instability, it is fair to ask whether it is appropriate for a company to continue to pay out large sums of money for what are described as “innovative, bespoke organisational development services for health and social care, to help you, your team and your organisation succeed” on the Coalescence website. The intrinsic value of such courses should be thoroughly determined and subsequently reviewed.

The Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is facing a budget deficit in excess of £35m and there have been strong allegations that St Mary’s may close as part of a cost saving exercise, despite protestation from senior figures. It is therefore not entirely surprising that the news was picked up in varying degrees by the national media: Private Eye, The Telegraph, and The Sunday Times all covering the issue. Despite Mark Davies’ attempts to clarify the allegations, the story is certain to at least cause a few blushes amongst senior staff.

In his email to the staff, Davies concludes that “At a time when it is very clear that we are facing very large operational and financial challenges, I would ask that they do not deter us from our absolute priority of providing the best possible care to our patients.” While Felix actively supports his keenness to resolve the financial issues of the Trust, it does not preclude that until the matter of any wrongdoing is fully resolved the news will remain disquieting for staff, concerned not only for the their own job security but for the wellbeing of the entire Trust in a week when figures showed unemployment rising by a further 129,000 to 2.62m in the last three months and the Bank of England cutting its forecasts for growth in 2011 and 2012 to approximately 1%. We sincerely hope that there will be a robust and proper investigation into the affair.